Athlete Running 3

There is a striking resemblance between the man in Athlete Running 3 (1881) and the Artemision Bronze of Zeus, making it difficult not to link Eadweard Muybridge’s oeuvre with the art of Ancient Greece. The aesthetic produced by the silhouette in this chronophotographic work alludes strongly to that imagined by artists two millennia ago. Muybridge was an eccentric figure who seems to have desired to situate his output within a tradition that has shaped Western civilisation. Through these simple photographic studies, he invited comparison with the craftsmen of an earlier era who used their technology to inspire others creatively. This simple act of running becomes more than an experiment, but an imprint of a man asserting his place in history.